gwestbrook Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 I made an unexpected trip to Parker County to meet my daughter halfway between Abilene and DFW to pick up my wife and son who were arriving home after a trip to Maine. I arrived an hour or so early and knowing I was in a fossiliferous zone I started thinking where I might find a cut or two to kill some time and have some fun to boot. I know some retail outlets in the area are cut into the hillsides so I started circling a few and checking out the back lots. I finally located a retaining wall behind one of the locations and behind the retaining wall I found a 200' strip of Walnut Clay. The site contained mostly Gryphea and an occasional Nethea or worn irregular echinoid, but after an hour of searching I finally found one tiny Salenia Texana, perhaps not in the best of shape, but the best one of it's kind I have found so far. Moral of the story: if you happen to make an unexpected trip to a known fossil-bearing zone and have an hour or so to kill, don't hesitate to check out what might be hiding behind the retaining walls of the local establishments. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Good advice and nice find! You obviously know your stratigraphy, which helps as well. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Well done on spotting that tiny fellow! Thanks for the quick report. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Fantastic. What a beautiful little echinoid. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwestbrook Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 16 hours ago, Ludwigia said: Good advice and nice find! You obviously know your stratigraphy, which helps as well. Thanks! Not as good as some of the pros, but I'm pretty good at correlating Google Earth images with the GAT. 8 hours ago, sixgill pete said: Fantastic. What a beautiful little echinoid. Thanks! I'm proud of it even if it's all I found that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwestbrook Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 12 hours ago, Fossildude19 said: Well done on spotting that tiny fellow! Thanks for the quick report. Regards, Thanks! And, your're welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 That's an adorable echinoid - I'm definitely Thanks for showing us your little gem! Monica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwestbrook Posted September 2, 2017 Author Share Posted September 2, 2017 On 8/30/2017 at 6:36 PM, Monica said: That's an adorable echinoid - I'm definitely Thanks for showing us your little gem! Monica You're welcome! I'm that too sometimes with what others on here find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Nice echinoid! More likely Leptosalenia mexicana than S. texana, but they are very similar. L. mexicana is just more common in the Walnut. FYI the "Salenias" are now all separated into various other genera such as Leptosalenia, Hyposalenia and others. But as always it's the species we hope to nail down and a Salenia mexicana is exactly the same as a Leptosalenia mexicana....a rose by any other name... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Nice finds. Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwestbrook Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 On 9/2/2017 at 6:40 PM, erose said: Nice echinoid! More likely Leptosalenia mexicana than S. texana, but they are very similar. L. mexicana is just more common in the Walnut. FYI the "Salenias" are now all separated into various other genera such as Leptosalenia, Hyposalenia and others. But as always it's the species we hope to nail down and a Salenia mexicana is exactly the same as a Leptosalenia mexicana....a rose by any other name... Thanks, Erich! I was looking at pictures of both trying to identify which one it was but couldn't really match it 100% with just the photos, so was wondering. 3 hours ago, RyanNREMTP said: Nice finds. Very nice. Thank you! Best one of it's kind I've found so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bone2stone Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 erose knows his "stuff" don't he. John J. has a good grasp on the salenia as well. He helped me on my separation of the differences'. I too had mine grouped all together and could not pick out the nuances of the species. Like to meet you sometime in the near future. I will be out your way most likely in the Fall. My brother lives N.E of the Abilene area and he wants me to evaluate his place for any paleo potential. He has artifacts out the kahooza but he wants fossils too. Hopefully he wont be disappointed. Jess B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now